Mass Workforce
by Valkyrie Shepherd
Summary: Elle is a worker on a planet where a labor shortage requires the hiring of off-world help.  Elle enjoys her life and her friends, but she keeps having memories she can't seem to shake, and what caused a biotic to attack at work?
1. Chapter 1

Mass Effect/Voyager Workforce fanfic

Chapter 1

Elle's nose wrinkled slightly as she concentrated. Her large, brown eyes were bright with excitement. Her project was almost finished and it had gone better than she hoped. Not only had she cleaned the plant's entire computer system of bugs and viruses, but she had reprogrammed the fusion tank scrubbers to clean more efficiently.

Elle's best friend, a human named Maura, leaned in excitedly. The two shared a work station but Maurs's work was abandoned as she eagerly watched her friend. "You almost have it Elle," cheered Maura quietly.

Elle glanced up to see Gem, her other best friend, leaning away from his terminal to see if he could catch a glimpse of what they girls were so excited about. The salarian squinted his large eyes, gesturing with a free hand in a questioning motion. He flinched and slouched back into his chair as an efficiency supervisor strutted by. He made a face when the turian's back was turned, then leaned out again to watch his friends.

Elle punched a few more buttons on her panel and activated her Omni-tool, sweeping to across the computer bank in front of her. The readout flashed on the back of her hand as her Omni-tool displayed what it had scanned. Elle bit her lip, it wasn't quite calibrated correctly. Dark eyebrows knitting, she deactivated her tool and went back to hastily prodding buttons on her work station. Maura leaned in too close and bumped her, "Maura please," Elle scolded, a little too loud.

"Are we having a problem?" demanded another efficiency supervisor who was watching them scornfully.

Elle glanced up at him and inwardly winced. It was Ferris, possibly the most hard-nosed turian in the whole plant, and that was saying something. His small eyes, rimmed as they were by dark facial markings, glared like he was looking right through her. Suddenly Elle felt inches tall, "No, no sir," she squeaked.

The supervisor held out his information pad and began methodically tapping letters. Elle knew he was writing them up for talking. She felt her chest tighten, but didn't say anything. Ferris knew exactly how to be intimidating without even seeming to try. All the other efficiency supervisors wanted to be like him someday. "Is your project almost completed," he asked in his gravely voice that made him sound like he had a permanent frog in his throat. After hours Elle and her friends would mock his vocal tone, exaggerating it's husky sound and laughing. Right now though, Elle didn't find it funny.

"Y-yes sir," she replied meekly.

"And yours?" he turned sharply to Maura, who just about jumped out of her skin.

"Uhm...no sir. I was just...I was just taking a break," Maura mumbled, looking at her lap.

Ferris make a 'tch' sound and tapped a few more keys on his pad. "We have scheduled breaks for a reason, Employee 6651. I suggest you wait until the next one before you slack off any more."

"Yes sir," Maura swiveled her chair back so she faced her own work station and began hastily hitting buttons. Elle wasn't even sure that she wasn't just pushing keys at random to look busier.

Ferris gave them both one last deadly look, then marched away, hands behind his back. He had a bit of a swagger, looking a lot like a military commander surveying his recruits. It was clear that none of them were up to his standard. Several employees flinched as he strutted past, straight-backed and chin held high, as though he was going to smack one of them at random with his data pad.

Elle scowled at her work station. She'd lost her train of thought and it would take her a few moments to get her momentum up again. She glanced across at Gem, who was looking at her with slight concern. Gem might have been the only employee who was more intimidated by Ferris than she was. He ducked hastily behind his console as the supervisor passed by. Elle stifled a giggle at her salarian friend's quick movements.

Suddenly a loud alarm went off and there was a general sigh of relief and frustration at the same time. It was the quitting time alarm, but some were not glad to be going home. Elle was one of the frustrated ones. She wanted to stay and finish her project, but instead she rose, collected her small personal bag from under her chair, and followed Maura through the crush of employees heading for the doors.

Gem was more timid about getting out the plant, so the two girls didn't see him until he joined them at their favorite restaurant. The three sat at their usual table and chatting as they always did. Making food at home was a challenge and most people could not afford cooking units, so many of the plant employees frequented the various diners and coffee shops which were built as close to the base of the imposing plant building as was permissible by law. This particular eatery was not overly full, as it was a bit of a walk from the plant, but the friends liked the atmosphere, and it served meals to everyone's varying tastes.

Maura bit happily into her grilled cheese as Gem, whose full surname name was Geminar, waved a two pronged fork on which a shrimp-like creature was impaled, "I can't believe you ran out of time for your project! You were almost done."

"I didn't have it calibrated properly," Elle sighed, picking at her salad. All xelon were vegetarians, unable to process meat products of any kind.

"You would have had time if old stick-up-his-ass Ferris hadn't come over," she imitated their supervisor's gravely, turian voice, "is everything alright here?" Then she mimicked Elle's soft accent, "it was until you showed up, Pointy Head."

Elle and Gem laughed loudly and several of their fellow plant workers, who has overheard, joined them, sharing the joke around. "I don't know if I would have had time anyway," Elle admitted, stabbing a piece of lettuce with her fork as though she were trying to kill it. "I still made a rookie mistake."

"Never mind the fact that the supervisors are always breathing down our necks. That can be pretty distracting," Gem sighed, "I'd get so much more done without them always checking up on me."

"It's not their fault your own shadow spooks you," pointed out a human at a nearby table, smiling good-naturedly.

"Shut up Jerry," warned Gem sternly, but he was smiling.

"Oh great, look who it is," Maura gestured with her eyes, then put her head against her hand with a low sort of moan.

"Why does he come here?" snapped Gem grouchily, his good mood instantly squashed.

Elle looked towards the door and there he was, Ferris. No longer wearing his work uniform he looked slightly less intimidating, but he still carried himself with a certain stiffness that even the other turians mocked him for (always behind his back of course). He was also wearing a few dabs of white face paint, which stood out against his grey-brown skin. It wasn't at all uncommon for turians to paint their faces after work. It was almost like they weren't completely out of uniform until they were wearing a little paint, but on Ferris it just made him look a little war-like.

The asari waitress moved over to show him to his usual table in the corner. "If we mind it so much why don't we go somewhere else?" asked Elle, breaking down and taking a big bite of her salad.

"We were here first," said Maura grouchily, folding her arms. "He was hired on after we were all already here, this was our place first."

"I suppose," sighed Elle. "It does have the best food around, so I suppose we can tolerate the company."

"At least he never does anything," Gem pointed out, "but sit and read."

Elle watched as Ferris settled himself at his favorite table, a data pad already in his hand. In a few moments the waitress brought him his turian tea and he sipped quietly as he read. He never looked up. Not even when Elle felt bold and stared directly at him for several minutes. He didn't look up when loud laughter filled up the restaurant, or when a minor scuffle broke out between a salarian and a volus over whose turn it was to pay for the meal.

When Elle and her two friends had finished their own meals and left the restaurant Ferris did not seem to notice them passing his table. He looked completely engrossed in his reading.

Elle and her friends walked together through Dark-side, the part of town where the lights were shut off earlier to save power. While this area was poorer and potentially more dangerous, many workers made their way home through it because it's streets were wide and fairly free of traffic at that time of night. All three friends lived in one of the large apartment towers constructed to house plant workers. Housing was just one of the perks of working on Quarren. With the planet's labor shortage, and relatively small native population, it was necessary to hire a lot of aliens and Elle had jumped at the opportunity. Her life before coming to work on Quarren was a blur of pointless wandering, and she didn't like to linger on thoughts of her past, preferring to look to the future.

She said goodbye to Gem, as his apartment was on one of the lower floors, then she and Maura rode the lift to the floor where they both lived. "Don't let today's setback get to you," urged Maura. "You're like a million times smarter than me, so at least I can make you look good out there. You'll finish your project tomorrow and I bet they'll give you a raise."

"Thanks Maura, I can always hope," Elle said, smiling as Maura dug in her personal bag for her door key chit. "Just remember, you're not dumb. You got a job at the plant too, and they only want people with high qualifications."

"I suppose," said Maura, finding the chit and pressing it to a panel beside her door. "Well, goodnight Elle. See you tomorrow."

"See you," Elle waited until she heard Maura lock her door, then she walked on down the hall to her own home. Once inside she was greeted by Simon, the pet cat that Maura had given her for her birthday. Gem didn't understand keeping pets, saying that salarians didn't have domesticated animals as companions. Elle suspected this wasn't exactly true as she had seen Gem talking to a fish through the window of a pet store they had passed on a walk one day.

She smiled as she thought of her friend. Then another memory flooded her mind. She gave a little gasp. The memory was quick, but invasive, filling her mind so abruptly she almost tripped over her own feet.

Faces flooded her mind. The masked face of a quarian. He was sitting across from her on a long bench. His hands were bound in front of him and he was jostled from side to side by movement, as though they were inside a vehicle. There were others there too, all with their hands cuffed before them, all looking downtrodden and weak. The memory hit recollections of intense hunger pangs.

Then, as fast as the memory came, it went. She was standing in her living room with Simon rubbing against her legs and meowing for his dinner. She shook her head uneasily, reaching up to pull her long, dark hair from it's usual bun. "Weird," she muttered vaguely, shuffling towards the refrigeration unit to get out a can of Simon's creamed fish. Then, with that experience already banished from her thoughts, she went to bed.

Elle was eager to get back to work on her problem the next day. On the walk to work after, a quick breakfast, Elle was quiet as Maura and Gem chatted amiably. She knew she could correct her mistake. She knew it. With her mistake repaired she would be allowed to move on to her next assignment, but even better than a chance to do something new was the possibility of reward. The plant manager himself, Mr. Axford, might come down from his office that overlooked the work-floor and congratulate her. Good work in improving efficiency was always rewarded.

Once at her station Elle got right to work. She was so focused that she barely noticed the bell for morning break, only realizing it had rung when Maura shook her shoulder. After break Elle was right back to it. The problem was proving tricky. Her mistake, while it seemed like an error of only a few digits, was confusing her whole system. Once she even had to restart her entire terminal, which earned her glares from the efficiency supervisors.

Just when she felt like she was about to scream and punch the screen on her station with her Omni-tool, shattering both, the numbers fit together. She almost wept for joy. All she had to do was input them in sequence and she'd have it, she'd be done. Gnawing her lip excitedly she began to enter the numbers. Then someone shoved her, and she fell against her machine with a surprised gasp. She saw a flash of blue as she looked up to see who had struck her. A human stood beside her, his body outlined with pale blue light. Biotic energy. His face was contorted with anger, his eyes were wild.

"This isn't right!" the crazed biotic yelled, flailing and arm and sending a wave of energy across the room, shattering a wall panel. Someone yelped and ducked as bits of shrapnel scattered. "We don't belong here!"

Elle tried to wheel her chair away from the biotic, but Maura was blocking her way, and it seemed her friend was frozen, unsure how to react.

The supervisors were there in moments, surrounding the raging man, trying to tackle him to the floor. He kept sending them back with pulses of biotic power as he made his way down the line of work stations towards the boss's office. He kept looking up at the darkened glass, behind which Elle could only guess Mr. Axford was watching in dismay.

One of the supervisors made a bold move. When the biotic's focus was on the window the turian tried to take him down. The human turned and sent the supervisor falling back against the wall. Then the human slammed his arm, which still glowed with biotic energy, across his victim's throat, and the turian began choking, unable to force the biotically strengthened arm away. He gasped for air and Elle knew it wouldn't take long for the turian to pass out. Then there was the sound of weapons discharge and the human fell, his blue aura fading to nothing as his red blood spilled out on the floor.

Elle's head turned, as did everyone elses', to try and determine where the shot had come from. Ferris was standing across the room, a steaming pistol in hand. His eyes were harsh as he studied the fallen human. "Get him to the medical station," Ferris instructed coolly, clicking the heat clip out of the pistol and setting the weapon down on the nearest station.

Elle moved from her chair and crouched beside the turian who had been strangled. He was forgotten for the moment as the other supervisors picked up the limp human. "You alright?" Elle asked.

The turian coughed a few times then met her eyes and nodded, "yeah," he said hoarsely. "Damn biotics."

She helped the supervisor to his feet. He coughed again, clasping his throat, but waved her off when she asked if he needed to go to the medical station as well. He gave her a quick nod of thanks, then walked stiffly over to stand beside Ferris, who was overlooking the panicked workers as if trying to think of the best way to restore order. Finally Ferris' harsh voice echoed across the large room, "Work is over for the day. Please go to your homes and report to work again at the usual time tomorrow."

Elle stood, dumbfounded. With everything that had happened she had almost forgotten her project, and now she wasn't going to get to finish it again. Her hands balled into fists, her long fingers coiling in her anger. She could have punched Ferris. It was like he was personally trying to ensure that she never finished. Of course that couldn't be true, but that was how it felt. Gem walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, "easy Elle. You'll finish tomorrow and your project will be all the sweeter because it took so long."

Elle let her anger melt away at the touch of her friend's hand. She sighed, "come on Gem, let's go grab some food and talk."

Half an hour later found the friends installed at their usual table. Elle kept shooting glares towards Ferris where he sat, as always, reading intently. Gem was talking in the quick, animated style that salarians were famous for. Sometimes Elle got the feeling that his mind worked a million times faster than hers, and that he dumbed himself down for her and Maura. She was only half listening to him as he chattered on, "I can't believe humans do that on purpose. I mean, Asari are born with biotic abilities, humans expose people to eezo. Kids. I've heard about human groups trying to create super soldiers with eezo. It's sick. Disgusting."

"Eezo?" Elle snapped out of her reverie.

"Yeah?" asked Gem, leaning forward slightly, studying her face.

"I think you might be on to something Gem!" she said excitedly.

"Care to enlighten me as to my brilliance?" the salarian asked good-naturedly.

"Eezo! Remember, there was a spill in the plant less than two weeks ago. A whole section needed to be evacuated. If some got into our part of the plant, it could be the reason that biotic went bonkers."

Maura sat forward as well. All three of them had moved so close to each other that their heads were almost touching. "Could be possible," said Gem in his clipped, salarian speech pattern, "the human could have been exposed, or it could have been tracked in by an employee who was transferred from another section!"

"How can we know for sure?" asked Maura.

"I'll think of something," said Elle, her nose wrinkling in her excitement.

"Once we know for sure we can tell the supervisors. We might get some kind of reward," Maura pointed out gleefully.

"Are rewards all you think about?" asked Gem, giving the human a quizzical glance.

"Pretty much," Maura laughed.

Once their meal was finished the friends walked together through Dark-side and said their traditional goodbyes at each one's door. As she fed Simon his dinner she thought briefly about the vision...or was it a memory, she had had the night before. The quarian with bound hands. The others, all sitting dejectedly in a darkened vehicle. Who were they? Why had she thought of them at all? She didn't even know any quarians. They didn't work at the plant because their compromised immune systems made it dangerous for them to. She shook off her musings and went to bed.

Once at the plant the next day, Elle got right down to work. Not finishing her project, but searching for eezo. She tried, during her breaks, to subtly scan around with her Omni-tool for signs of the dangerous substance. She got a few eyebrow raises, and one reprimand from a supervisor, but she found very little. She was growing frustrated. She had become somewhat attached to the idea of eezo being the cause of the attack the day before. Finally she found a trace of something that might have been eezo near Gem's station, but as soon as she did, her break was over.

Fuming, she returned to her station and idly poked buttons, entering the numbers to complete her task, without much enthusiasm. She kept shooting glances in Gem's direction, a though she might be able to somehow see the eezo.

After a while she stood up, slinking determinedly in Gem's direction. Maura hissed worriedly, "where are you going? We're not on a break!"

Elle waved a hand in Maura's direction to quiet her, then she continued towards Gem. The salarian looked up from his work as she crouched beside him, hidden from a passing supervisor by Gem's station. "What the hell?" Gem asked in hushed tones.

"Ssshhh," breathed Elle, activating her Omni-tool and starting to scan.

"Elle, no, you can't do this right now," Gem said out of the corner of his mouth, trying his best to look like he was still working.

"I'm almost done," Elle hissed back.

"Elle."

"Shhhh"

"Elle!"

"What?" Elle raised her head and found herself staring at the crotch of a turian. She tilted her head back and realized with a deep feeling of dread, exactly which turian she was looking at. Ferris gave her his famous penetrating look and Elle wished she were a dust mote.

"Is there a reason you're over here? Be advised before you answer, it had better be a very very good reason."

Elle's throat was suddenly very dry. She raised her arm, on which her Omni-tool still glowed. It took Ferris a moment to realize that she wanted him to look at it. He leaned down, examining the readout. He blinked a few times, then stood up straight again, "come with me," he said.

"Yes sir," Elle mumbled, standing up. Even though, as a xelon, Elle was the same height as Ferris, she felt like a child as he began to lead her towards the office. She glanced back at Gem, who was watching her with deep concern on his long face. She couldn't turn far enough to see Maura, but she suspected the human wore a similar expression.

Elle followed Ferris as he led her up the stairs towards the mysterious office, where Mr Axford supposedly oversaw his employees every day. Her heart was racing, her palms sweating. She glanced at her Omni-tool, it's bright yellow light making her blink a few times before she checked the readout. She hoped it was enough.

The door opened and she was led into a dimly lit room. It was a carpeted office, decorated in muted browns. A man sat in a large, very soft looking office chair. He glanced up when they entered, closing his laptop with the casual flick of a hand. "Ferris? What can I help you with?"

"Sir," said Ferris, his distinct vocal tone sounding even more harsh compared to the man's softer, almost human speech. "This employee found something on the plant work-floor that might interest you."

"Did she?" the man tented his fingers. He leaned forward and Elle could make out his face in the dimness. He looked almost human, except his lips, which seemed to meld together with his nose and chin. His expression was a little bit patronizing, but Elle let that slide. When you were the boss you could look down on your employees if you wanted to. "Show me."

Ferris took Elle's arm, though not grasping it hard, and led her gently towards the desk where he held out her Omni-took for Mr. Axford to examine. The man checked the tool, then sat back, his eyebrows raised. "Element zero?" he asked, tenting his fingers again.

"It looks that way," said Ferris. "Near where that biotic human was when he went mad yesterday. It may be what caused the attack."

"Perhaps," said the boss, though his expression slowly changed, growing more distant, as though he had almost forgotten that they were standing there. "This is troubling."

"Is it?" asked Elle, finding her voice at last. "Wasn't there a spill not long ago? Couldn't some have been tracked in from somewhere else?"

Mr. Axford gave her a quick, scrutinizing look, then nodded curtly. "That's probably it." he said. "Now, if there is nothing else to report, Ferris, please take this employee back to her work station."

Ferris shifted uncomfortably. This was the first time Elle had seen the tough turian showing any sign of feeling uneasy. Then it was gone, and he was standing stiff and proud beside her again. "Come on," he said coldly.

Elle allowed herself to be escorted from the office. Ferris' grip on her arm was a bit firmer this time, though she wasn't sure why. His face was impossible to read, but somehow she sensed he still felt unsure. This made her feel nervous as well.

Back at her station Maura wanted to know what had happened and Elle kept catching furtive glances from Gem, but with Ferris nearby they had to keep working without talking. Elle finished her project, but she barely noticed. She had a new project for her sharp mind now. What was eezo doing in the factory? Clearly the boss didn't think it was from the spill. Was there some kind of cover-up going on? She chewed her lip and worked quietly, but her mind was as active as ever.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So?" Maura was on the edge of her seat, her chocolate shake forgotten.

"What did he say about the eezo? Did you even find any?" asked Gem, who was equally as excited, which manifested by making him talk even more quickly than usual.

"Yeah, I did," Elle held out her arm, activating her Omni-tool and showing them the readout. Around them other workers leaned in to see as well, chattering amongst themselves about Elle being led to the boss' office. Elle had never been so popular. Half the workers seemed sure that she was some kind of hero, while others kept shooting her sympathetic looks, as though she was probably fired, but just didn't realize it yet.

"Sure enough. Wow. What did he say, did he say it was because of the spill? Was he worried? Should we be worried?"

"Gem, settle," Elle put her hand on the salarian's slim forearm. "He didn't seem worried. It didn't even seem like he cared. I don't think the eezo came from the spill. When I mentioned that he blew me off right away."

"Weird," Maura commented. "Could the biotic have left eezo behind when he went crazy, instead of it causing him to?"

"Unlikely. Element zero is usually found in powder form, but biotic humans are exposed when they are still in-utero. They wouldn't have any eezo one them. Well, not unless they brought some with them to work," Gem's eyes opened wide, which made them almost comically large. "Oh my gosh, what if the human did bring some into work? That stuff is big time illegal! Did any of the supervisors mention anything about it?"

"Why on Quarren would be know that?" Maura asked, folding her arms. "It's not like they talk to us."

Gem looked dejected. "True. They don't even change in the same locker rooms as we lowly grunts. Why would someone bring a rare and dangerous element into work? Do you think it was sabotage of some kind?"

"No idea. It must have cost him a lot of money. I don't know any merchants who would sell eezo. It's illegal, along with red sand and other stimulants," Elle said, resting her head on her palm and eyeing her Omni-tool as though it could reveal some secret if she kept staring.

"You could ask him," Gem gestured to where Ferris was sitting at his usual table, drinking his usual tea and studying a data pad with a look of concentration on his hard features. Elle gave a little snort of laughter, "yeah, right."

"Why not?" asked Maura jokingly, "he took you up to see the boss instead of firing you. Aren't you like, pals now?"

"Shut it Maura," Elle said, giving her friend a playful shove. "He's still an ass, no matter how you slice it. We'll figure this out on our own."

"How about we figure it out tomorrow?" Gem stretched his long limbs, and yawned.

Elle and Maura agreed and the three friends walked home through Dark-side. On the way they passed several small street shops that were still open. Candle light illuminate their wares as various shop-owners tried to entice passing plant workers over to buy. Mostly the merchants were volus, some asari, and a smattering of elcor, but there were also some Quarren natives there.

Elle and Maura were both tempted by a stall that was selling beautiful broken glass wind chimes. Though not much wind ever made it into the city, so tightly packed were the buildings, but there was a gentle breeze from an air vent and the bits of glass turned prettily, shimmering in the dim light. Elle's white face was turned from purple to green to yellow as the glass turned and shone against her velvety skin.

"Too bad your species don't have more skin color variation," remarked Gem, who was more interested in a different stall that was selling cheap, second hand tech. "You look good in green."

"You do," said a muffled voice.

Elle looked up to see that the shop owner was a male quarian. His eyes shimmered faintly behind his face mask as he watched her. His voice amplifier must have been slightly faulty because his voice sounded a little stifled. Elle was surprised, he was the first quarian she had seen in a while. As she looked at him a sensation seemed to rush over her. Like deja-vu. "Do I...have we met before?" Elle asked, squinting at the quarian.

He tugged slightly at his suit, shifting slightly as though he might be uncomfortable. "No," he answered after a moment. "Never. I'd remember someone as pretty as you."

Elle felt herself flush at the compliment. She was too busy with work to think about relationships, but still, the quarian was charming, and mysterious, with his face hidden behind his health sustaining mask. His bright eyes winked at her and she giggled a little girlishly.

"Oh brother," Maura grabbed Elle's arm. "Come on girl. No time to be flirting. We have work in the morning."

"You work at the plant?" asked the quarian, idly polishing a large shard of glass with a rag.

"Yeah," said Maura, still trying to move Elle, who was at least a head taller than she, along towards the apartments.

"We don't see many xelons around here. You're a rare treat," said the quarian. It was impossible to tell, but the tone of his voice seemed to indicate that he was smiling.

"There are a few other xelons at the plant," Elle said, allowing herself to be slowly shunted along by Maura. "I'm the only one in my section. I don't see many quarians around either."

"Perhaps I'll see you again?" asked the quarian, as Elle was moved almost out of earshot.

"I hope so," Elle called back, still feeling a little bit giddy.

Gem caught up with them, holding what looked like a spent plasma converter. "What just happened?" he asked.

"Elle was flirting with that quarian. It was disgraceful." chuckled Maura, who still had a firm grip on Elle's arm.

"It was not. I was not," Elle protested, still allowing herself to be herded along.

Gem grinned slightly and shook his head, "and I thought humans were flirts. I expect that Maura only made you stop because she was jealous that the young man wasn't paying attention to her."

The three friends laughed and chatted all the way home. Elle thought a little more about the friendly quarian as she dressed for bed. Had he been flirting with her, or just trying to make a sale? She still couldn't shake that feeling that she had seen him someplace before. She didn't remember seeing his stall there on other nights. Perhaps he had had a different job before opening a sales stall on Dark-side.

As she showered and went to bed her mind was as active as ever. Sometimes she wondered if she could just stop thinking about all the mysteries around her and just let her mind go blank, and she guessed that she probably couldn't.

The next few days were quiet. With her project finished, and a nice bonus waiting for her on payday, Elle went about her work in good spirits. She seldom thought about the eezo that she had discovered. Her job kept her mind busy, and her nights were filled with times spent with Gem and Maura. The three were so seldom apart that when Gem said that he wouldn't be walking the girls home that night they were both very surprised.

"I'm sorry," the salarian said lightly, "I have to spend some time with my family. They complain that they miss me."

"They're on the other side of the city," said Maura dejectedly. "Which means we won't see you until work tomorrow."

"Most likely. I'll sleep at my family's house." said Gem.

"Will you at least be eating with us?" asked Elle.

"Not tonight," Gem sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's a bit of a trip and I have to catch a train."

"We understand," said Elle, patting her friend's arm. "Your brothers don't get to see you very often."

"Thanks for understanding," Gem smiled. "I know we've formed our own family, and the two of you don't have anyone on-world."

"If I had brothers here I'd want to visit them," Maura admitted as the friends parted ways outside the plant.

That night the girls sat at their usual table. The conversation was slightly lacking without Gem's quick interjections and fast-talking rambles. Still, the two managed to enjoy their meal. As it was payday they both splurged a bit. Elle enjoyed a human dessert of apple pie, shared with her best friend.

As she munched another fork-full of pie, Elle got a prickling feeling at the back of her neck. Slowly she turned her head, glancing out of the corner of her eye. Her heart gave a little lurch. Ferris was looking right at her. He had a slightly quizzical, searching expression on his angular face. He was wearing that white face paint again, as always it made him look slightly tribal and dangerous. His small, intelligent eyes watching her made her feel like a thousand needles were tingling over her skin.

"What?" asked Maura, noticing Elle's distraction.

"He's staring right at me," Elle said in a hushed voice, turning back to her friend and hunching her shoulders uncomfortably.

"Who?"

"Him, Ferris. Is he still looking?" Elle asked, still feeling like her skin was covered in biting insects.

"Yup," Maura's voice was a little breathless. "Why on Quarren would be he staring at _you_?"

"Why not me?" Elle asked a little playfully, "Should males not look at me?"

"Not what I meant and you know it. Though maybe you're right. Maybe he is looking for that reason." Maura pointed out. "Oh, now he's gone back to his reading. You must not be very interesting."

"I sure hope he's done," said Elle. "He was giving my the creeps big time. Goddess, I hope he wasn't looking at me for _that_ reason. Ugh."

"He's not that bad looking, for a turian," Maura pointed out, grinning now.

"Too bad about that stick he has lodged up his ass," Elle giggled.

The two girls laughed and Ferris kept his eyes to himself for the rest of the evening so the event was all but forgotten. The friends left the diner and headed home through Dark-side. Elle looked around as they went for the quarian selling the glass decorations, but she didn't see him. Maura poked a little fun at Elle's expense about her crush on the salesman.

The two came around a corner into a street where the stalls were either all packed up, or hadn't set up at all that night. The going was a bit challenging because it was so dark. Light from other parts of the city illuminated the way somewhat, like man-made stars. This far into the city the true stars could not be seen thanks to the light pollution.

"Evening ladies," a deep voice echoed towards them from down an alley.

It was only a matter of moments before the girls found themselves faced with three, surly looking batarians. "What can we help you with boys?" Maura asked, trying to keep her voice level.

"Oh, not much," said the lead batarian in his deep, intimidating voice. He blinked at her with all four of his eyes. "Well, I heard it was payday down at the plant and we were just hoping that you ladies might be carrying full credit chits. How about you hand those over and you can both go on your way, no problems."

"How about we don't?" snapped Elle. She wasn't sure where her courage was coming from. She turned into a quivering mass of fear when a supervisor happened to walk by her work station. Out here though, _her_ route home, this was her domain.

"Elle," hissed Maura uneasily.

"No. These guys have no right. We earned this money." Elle snapped dangerously. She was well aware that she was a little bit taller than the batarian who was threatening her and she straightened to her full height, squaring her shoulders.

"Oh really?" the batarian signaled one of his buddies and a pistol was drawn, the metal of the barrel glinting dangerously in the faint light.

Elle felt her bravado fail. She began reaching towards her personal bag for her credit chit, vaguely wondering what she was going to do for food until her next payday. Also wondering if she could afford to pay to ride the transport home from Light-side every night. She certainly wasn't going to be walking home any more.

"I really think you should leave these ladies alone," a gravely voice broke in.

The batarians turned as one, growling dangerously, "what do you want, turian?"

Elle realized who the owner of the new voice was and she wasn't sure how to feel. On the one hand she was glad that someone was here to help them out, and on the other she wondered why it had to be him. Why Ferris, of all people?

His face stood out specterally from the darkness, marked as it was with white face paint. His eyes glinted green, making him look even more menacing. "I want you to leave," growled Ferris.

"We don't think we will," smirked the batarian, "we think we'll take your credit chit too."

"Oh really?" Ferris reached for something at his belt.

There was the sound of a weapon discharging. Elle jumped, unable to tell in the dark quite where the shot had come from or gone. The batarian holding the gun gave a yelp and dropped it. Ferris glared dangerously at them. He was now holding a pistol of his own. "I really think you should be going before I call the authorities." Ferris stood tall, glowering at the batarians in the same way that he did at his subordinates at work. His chin high, his eyes glinting, he stared down their aggressors.

"The plan's gone south," snarled the head batarian to his comrades. His expression had changed to one of unease, even fear. "let's go." He skulked hurriedly away, followed by his pals.

Maura had a death grip on Elle's arm. "Easy Maura, they're gone."

"Dear god," breathed Maura. "No more walking home through Dark-side for us." Then Maura turned to Ferris, "thank you! I don't know where you came from, but thank you."

Ferris smiled wanly, "it's a good thing they're easily fooled," he said. He held up his pistol, turning it so that the girls could see that it had no heat clip in place. "If I fired this I would get a nasty burn on my hand. I wasn't eager to fire."

"But you did," Elle pointed out, glancing at the gun that the batarian had dropped.

"Actually no," Ferris said, "they must have had the same issue. He dropped it because of the heat."

"So he missed?" Elle said, looking around for where the projectile may have gone.

"Not exactly,"

"What?" Maura asked.

Ferris stepped further into the light. He had his free hand clasped to his stomach, where dark blue blood was already staining his clothes. He bent forward slightly, grimacing, showing off his long, dangerous looking teeth.

"Goddess!" gasped Elle, stepping forward and grabbing Ferris' arm, "he shot you? We need to get you to a hospital, now!"

Maura also rushed to help, taking Ferris' other arm, "come on. We'll get you there. It's not far."

Between them the two women half carried the wounded turian towards the nearest hospital. "What were you thinking?" demanded Maura, trying her best to assist the much taller and bulkier alien. "Threatening those thugs with that useless weapon?"

"I was thinking that they might fall for my bluff," explained Ferris between gritted teeth.

"Is that the same gun from the plant?" asked Elle.

"No. I bought this one cheap. I figured I didn't really need it to fire. I could use it to intimidate people."

"That didn't work," Elle said, shouldering the turian's arm more firmly. "Where did you come from anyway? Were you following us?"

"No. I was walking home," Ferris grunted.

"You live near Dark-side too?" Maura's tone was skeptical.

"I do," Ferris shifted his weight mostly on to Elle, as though sensing that Maura was growing tired.

Elle shouldered the new application of weight easily. Xelon were normally quite lithe, but their build belayed their strength. Nothing compared to a krogan of course, but at least a match for the average turian. "Why don't we ever see you walking our way? We take this route almost every night."

"I avoid contact with others," Ferris said simply. "Especially workers from the plant. I seem to make them...nervous."

"Gee, you think?" hissed Maura to Elle.

Elle shot her friend a warning look, "well, thanks for changing your policy tonight or we might have lost our credit chits."

"You might have lost more than that," Ferris pointed out, "I've seen those batarians around. Never caught them in the act, but they're bad news. They're especially cruel to humans," he shot a glance down at Maura, who avoided eye contact.

"Nothing new there," Maura admitted resignedly. "Here we are," she gestured to the large, tan building in front of them. "I'll run inside and get some help," she gently took Ferris' arm from her shoulder and rushed through the automatic doors to the hospital building.

Ferris leaned against Elle, though she sensed he was still doing his best to support his own weight. She glanced at him a little uneasily. "Do you have any family I should call for you?" she asked nervously.

"Not on-world," answered Ferris simply.

Then people were rushing out of the hospital and loading Ferris onto a stretcher. He sat down on the stretcher, and allowed himself to be laid back, but as he did he grabbed Elle's wrist. He squeezed slightly, letting out a little moan from the pain, then let go. Elle stood there watching the nurses wheel him hurriedly inside. Maura came back out, her face was pale in the overly bright street lights outside the hospital building. "Alright," Maura sounded a little out of breath, "I gave them all the info I knew about him."

"You were only in there a minute," Elle pointed out.

"Yeah," Maura gave a slight shrug. "Pretty much all I know is his name, and where he works. Come on Elle, let's get a cab and go home."

"We have to file a report with the police VI before we do anything else," Elle pointed out. "Otherwise we'll never hear the end of it."

"I suppose you're right," sighed Maura, walking over to the VI terminal that served as a sort of pay-phone and information hub for the hospital. Maura tapped a few buttons, "we need to report a shooting," shes said.

In moments there was a flickering light and a quaren face appeared, transparent and sapphire in color. He had a dull, emotionless expression. "Identify yourselves and make your report please," said the VI in a tinny voice. Elle and Maura took turns relating the story of what had happened. They tried their hardest to give a description of the batarians that had cornered them. "Do you need police assistance?" asked the VI when they had finished.

"No," Elle replied.

"Is the victim of the shooting available for questioning or should we send someone around later?" asked the holographic head.

"Send someone later," Maura instructed.

"Understood. Your report will be logged. Thank you for your cooperation," droned the VI before flickering a few times, than vanishing.

"Alright," said Maura, heaving a sigh, "let's call that cab." She tapped a few numbers on the VI display and soon she was making arrangements for pickup. The girls stood together and waited, not really talking at all, but when the cab came Elle felt a little unsure.

She hesitated. Maura took her hand, but Elle let it slip out again as her friend began to lead the way. "Hang on, Maura. I think...I think I might stay for a little while. Make sure he is alright."

Maura came back, looking up at her companion, "are you sure?"

"Yeah," Elle rubbed the back of her neck, a little uneasily.

"I'll stay with you then," Maura said determinedly, starting back towards the building.

"No Maura," Elle felt suddenly guilty. Her friend was loyal to the end, but Maura was also obviously freaked out and exhausted. "I can't ask you to stay too. Please go home, have a warm bath and do your, what is that thing you do, yogi?"

"Yoga," Maura gave a little chuckle. She wrung her hands, "are you sure Elle. I'll stay for sure if you want me to."

"I'm sure Maura," Elle stepped forward and hugged her companion. "Thanks for being so willing to stay with me though."

"Last chance to come with me."

"I'm fine," Elle smiled.

"You're really going to hang around to make sure Ferris, who I may remind you, haunts your waking hours, is alright?"

"Yeah," Elle sighed, "I feel like I should, and as you know I tend to follow my impulses."

"Like scanning for eezo when you're supposed to be working?"

"Yup, like that." Elle chuckled.

"Are we ready ladies?" asked the cab driver, leaning towards the open passenger door to look at them.

"It's just me," Maura said, climbing in. "You make sure to get a cab when you go home too Elle."

"Of course," Elle replied emphatically. "Good night Maura."

"Good night," Maura called, smiling from behind the glass as the door of the cab closed.

Elle sighed again, turning and looking back at the hospital building. Steeling herself, she walked into the building. The asari at the desk looked up from her work, blinking deeply blue eyes, "can I help you?" she asked in her silky voice.

"I'm here to make sure that the turian who was just brought in here is alright."

The asari gave a little smile and flicked a button, activating a bright, yellow screen on front of her. A few quick wrist flicks and the screen flashed to a picture of Ferris, with words scrolling beside it. It was all backwards for Elle, but she wondered vaguely how the hospital had a picture and apparently somewhat thorough file already made out on the turian supervisor. She let the thought leave her head as the asari looked back up, "He's been taken in to surgery. He should be out in an hour or so, if it goes well. Would you like to wait."

"Yes," Elle said, a little timidly. She felt slightly uneasily in hospitals, which didn't make much sense as she had not been in hospitals much at all in her life.

The asari gestured towards a small waiting area with chairs that looked a little bit like they needed a good wash. Elle walked slowly over and sat down, taking in the beige hospital décor. For whatever reason almost everything in the city was colored that particular, uninteresting pale brown. Elle glanced around the waiting area, taking in the small, wooden table and flat screen suspended in a high corner. The tele-viewer was switched off because it getting so late so it looked like Elle would have to entertain herself with what reading this place had to offer.

There was a little data pad chained to the table with a thin tether. Elle wondered who would want to steal a data-pad from a hospital. She turned it on with a flick of her thumb and checked her reading options. An out-dated women's magazine, a children's book, several pamphlets about various health concerns and several job listings. Job listings were everywhere on Quarren. The planet was terminally understaffed. Perhaps because they had so few natives. She wasn't sure what had happened to the planet. A deadly virus, a mass exodus, a war? Something had wiped out over half of the industrial planet's populace, and it was still recovering.

Elle checked over the job listings, all looking for skilled workers for varied positions. Elle sighed and clicked her thumb against the pad again to look at the medical pamphlets. They all had titles meant to draw you in and keep you calm. She squinted at the first entry, "Quarian and scared? Don't let fear of disease rule you any longer. Quarren has the best, state-of-the-art medical facilities that can help with even the largest suit ruptures." Elle read on, "Are you a turian and concerned about your special dietary needs? Just ask one of the hospital's friendly staff to get you a nutritional guide for Quarren dining options." Elle scrolled her finger down the list, looking for anything interesting. "What is Disphoria Syndrome?" Elle stopped scrolled. That word sounded familiar. Disphoria? She tapped her thumb to select the pamphlet.

"Are you concerned about Disphoria Syndrome? Some of the symtoms include:

Fatigue

Dizziness

Paranoia

Deja vu

Sudden onsets of Depression

Phantom Memories

If you have at least two of these symptoms, maybe it's time to get tested. It's also time to look at the situation calmly. Disphoria Syndrome is very treatable. A simple operation will have you feeling like yourself in no time!"

Elle sat, staring at the little screen. She wasn't sure about the fatigue or dizziness, but she felt like she might have had more than one instance of deja vu and possibly 'phantom memories'. She swallowed. Was it time to get tested? What kind of operation was required to cure the illness? She flicked her finger and went on to the next pamphlet, which was a reassuring one about the extensive maternity ward, complete with extreme clean-room for quarian mothers.

_She was walking down a long corridor. Grey walls on either side. The quarian was walking on her right, his hands were still tied in front of him. She felt cold, sore and hungry. The quarian looked at her, his eyes glinting brightly behind his mask._

Elle snapped out of her daydream. Was it a daydream? It had been so abrupt, she hadn't even really felt herself drift away, or her eyes become unfocused. Was it more of a memory? Her heart started beating fast. The data pad slid from her hand and clacked against the beige tiled floor. The asari at the desk looked up abruptly, her eyes narrowing for a moment.

"Sorry," said Elle, sheepishly picking up the pad. "I think I fell asleep."

The asari seemed placated by her explanation and went back to looking at her own data pad. Elle slumped back in her chair, clicking through the magazine choices too fast for her to read. She let the little screen flip and flip through the list. This time her eyelid really did get heavy and she was starting to drift off.

"Excuse me," Elle felt someone tap on her shoulder.

"Maura, what is it?" Elle mumbled, waving her hand vaguely.

"Miss," the voice was more insistent. "Wake up."

Elle's eyes snapped open. She blinked owlishly at the woman in front of her. It wasn't the asari from the front desk. It was a xelon woman wearing beige doctor's garb. "You were waiting to see about your turian friend? The one with the gunshot wound."

"Yes," Elle wiped her eyes, standing up a little unsteadily.

"Alright, I can take you to see him now. His surgery went well."

"Is he alright?" Elle asked, following as the doctor began to lead the way through the hospital.

"Now he is. We had to stitch up his insides a bit, but he's doing much better. Good job bringing him in right away. So many people think turians are somehow more hearty than other species, but that's just not true. Getting shot is as life threatening for them as it is for a human, or a xelon."

Elle followed quietly along as the doctor chatted about the dangers of some parts of the city. How everything was supposed to be completely safe here, but you could never get rid of crime. Not entirely. Elle let her eyes glaze over a bit as they walked down on bland hallway after another.

Finally they came to Ferris' room. "Now be gentle," the doctor warned. "I brought you up because he said he didn't have any family or friends on-world that I should call. I just didn't think he should be alone with this," the woman sighed wearily. "Some turians are so stubborn. Hang on, I'll let him know you're here."

Elle waited, hands clasped nervously in front of her as the doctor quietly entered the dimly lit room. Ferris was laying on a specially made bed, with a hole in the headrest for his fringe, so he could lay on his back. Elle thought the bed looked a little bit like a massage chair she had seen once.

"Ferris Orridan?" the doctor said in almost a whisper.

Elle saw Ferris' eyes open, flashing green, "what is it?" he asked. His voice sounded strained and exhausted, lacking all it's usual dominant resonance.

"You have someone here to see you."

"Who? I told you I don't have any family or friends here." Ferris' tone was cold and suspicious.

"Well, this young lady waiting for some time, so I think she has earned the right to speak to you for a little while," said the doctor, whose tone was still gentle, but took on a slightly commanding edge.

Then Ferris turned his head towards the door and his small, intense eyes widened, "you?" he said, barely loud enough to be heard.

Elle swallowed nervously and entered the room, "yeah," she said quietly. "Me."


End file.
